1. Field of the Invention.
In one aspect this invention relates to armor useful for protecting combatants from hostile enemy fire. In a further aspect, this invention relates to armor which reacts to the incursion of a penetrator to thwart the penetrator's threat.
2. Prior Art.
There is an ongoing tension between the improvements in the lethality of the weapons and an ever increasingly sophisticated protective armor. Generally passive armor resists penetration of a projectile or the like by the material properties of the armor. When greater protection is necessary, the physical properties of the armor and/or its thickness are increased. Certain of todays modern weapons such as high energy kinetic rounds and shaped charge rounds can penetrate several feet of even the most sophisticated metallic passive armor. Therefore, it became necessary to provide armor which actively resists penetration by these sophisticated rounds. Such armors are generically called reactive armor. Reactive armor contains stored energy which is released against an incoming round which contacts the armor. Currently, the best known types of reactive armor store energy in the form of explosives. When the armor is hit, the explosives rapidly release energy to destroy or deflect the threat. These types of reactive armor provide improved protection. However use of explosives as an energy storage mean entails certain difficulties. One problem is the sensitive nature of any explosive material which can react rapidly enough to destroy or otherwise thwart the high speed penetrators used in todays moder weaponry. The sensitive nature of the explosives requires careful handling and installation with the chance for accidents ever present. Explosives also have the potential for chain initiation of explosions among the several plates of reactive armor mounted on the vehicle. For example, an impact element might detonate more than one reactive armor tile mounted on the vehicle thereby rendering the area protected by the tiles vulnerable over a substantial percentage of its exposed area. This increases the vehicles risk to successive rounds. Further, explosives require special care in handling, storage and shipping. While current explosive reactive armor has shown its ability to resist the incursion of penetrators under many circumstances it is desirable to develop less vulnerable and preferably more reliable types of armor.